Messenger Plus!
| File:Msgpluslogo.png | |
| Developer(s) | Patchou |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 4.11.254
/ November 28, 2006 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista |
| Type | Add-on |
| License | Free with Optional Sponsor (Adware) |
| Website | http://www.msgpluslive.net/ |
Messenger Plus! Live (commonly abbreviated MsgPlus, MP!L, or incorrectly as MSN Plus) is a freeware add-on for Windows Live Messenger created by Patchou and first released in 2006.
Messenger Plus! Live is a continuation of the old Messenger Plus! series of releases for the MSN Messenger client. Messenger Plus! was first released in May 2001, and quickly gained popularity to become the most widely used add-on for Microsoft's IM clients.
Messenger Plus! Live is available in 20 languages. Other languages may be available from the translation sub-forum.
Features
Messenger Plus! Live expands the features of Windows Live Messenger.
Text formatting
Messenger Plus! Live allows the user to send messages and set their screen name with formatting, such as bold, italic, underlined and also colors. The formatting can be set with either IRC style commands, or BBCode. Other users can only see this formatting if they have Messenger Plus! installed as well.
Custom status
Messenger Plus! Live allows for custom status tags, which indicate when a user is currently at their computer, etc. using six different preset statuses.
Multiple instances
Messenger Plus! Live allows you to open multiple instances of the Messenger Client on the same computer so you can sign into more than one account at once.
Event Logging
Messenger Plus! Live logs contact name changes, status changes and other events in the Messenger Client. These events can also be viewed in real time using the Event Viewer window.
Chat Logging
Messenger Plus! implemented chat logging before the Messenger client. Messenger Plus! Live brought in HTML chat logging, in which chats, custom emoticons, winks and all other events are properly logged in a stylish layout. You can also encrypt your logs to increase your privacy on shared computers. If you don't like the HTML logs you can also select to have them saved as plain text files.
Desktop Contacts
Messenger Plus! Live allows you to choose contacts to appear on your desktop in small, floating windows. You can view a contact's status or initiate a conversation or file transfer with them from your desktop without having to open your Windows Live Messenger contact list.
Auto response
This feature allows the user to leave a message that will be sent automatically to any contact who starts a conversation with the user, for example to tell them the user is away from the computer.
Multi-line messages can be sent after each sentence said by the other user. For example, when the user sets one message such as "I'm away", the other user will receive this message and when the other user talks again, an auto response can be sent stating "I just want to remind you that i'm away, ok."
Custom sounds
The Custom Emotion Sound feature, first appearing in version 3.50, allows setting and sending new homebrewed or downloaded sounds to the contacts. Sounds can be packaged into sound packs, which can be shared between users.
To create new sounds, a user can either record a "voice clip" using a microphone, or import a sound file and have it converted and shortened to an appropriate length and then saved.
Sound servers have been set up to store all sounds from Messenger Plus!. The first time a sound is sent, it is uploaded to the servers; the first time each user receives a sound they download it and cache it locally.
Tabbed conversations
Messenger Plus! can group all conversations into a tabbed document interface.
Messenger Lock
Formerly known as Boss Protection Mode, or Boss Key, the Messenger Lock allows users to quickly hide Messenger windows, for example from their supervisor. This feature turns the Messenger icon in the system tray into another user-defined icon. It also allows the user to send a message automatically to any contact in which they are currently talking with.
Custom scripts
Messenger Plus! Live has a script API, allowing developers to create scripts using JScript. Scripts can be modified without having to restart Windows Live Messenger, speeding up the development process. Adding functionality via scripting rather than plugins allows users to easily install scripts just by opening the script file, rather than copying the dll to the plugin directory and restarting Windows Live Messenger.
The scripting system has a XML based menu schema. If the menu style is updated in future versions of Messenger Plus! Live, then the scripts' menus will all be updated accordingly.
Adware
The author currently bundles optional adware software developed by Circle Development Ltd. Some software review websites criticized[citation needed] the user agreement, stating that the 'sponsorship agreement' which authorized the installation of the adware was misleading because it looked like a standard EULA, and was only available in English. Since Messenger Plus! 3.60 was released (on September 27, 2005), the setup includes a separate license agreement in addition to a traditional EULA. These agreements have also been translated.
A special adware uninstallation program is also provided by the company[citation needed] which appears when users attempt to uninstall Messenger Plus!.
Issues with Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware
As of 2005-08-17, the Messenger Plus! website contained a petition to Microsoft's anti-spyware division regarding Windows Defender's (Microsoft AntiSpyware at the time) detection of the Messenger Plus! executable as spyware, and warning the user that the software will attempt to install spyware at runtime (i.e. post-install), whilst still failing to detect the setup program as a potential installer. The petition, which had 401,683 signatures and was 10,137 pages long in total, was sent to Redmond[citation needed] on 20 September 2005[1] stating that Messenger Plus! should no longer be labeled as spyware. Patchou stated in the Messenger Plus! help forums that the petition would take "about a week"[2] to arrive. On 23 September 2005,[3] just 3 days after the petition was mailed to Redmond from Canada, Microsoft released to the public new definitions for Windows Defender that fixed the false postive affecting the Messenger Plus! executable together with several other false positives.
Messenger Plus! Live
To coincide with the newly branded Windows Live Messenger, new versions of Messenger Plus! is called Messenger Plus! Live. The MSN Messenger Compatible MsgPlus will no longer be supported, however, the last version of Messenger Plus! (Version 3.63) will still be available for download and is able to run along side the WLM version without any compatibility problems. Plus! Live has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. New features include a chat log viewer, custom formatting with BBCode and scripting to extend the programs functionality.
Patchou
Messenger Plus! was created by Cyril Paciullo, who refers to himself by the name Patchou. Cyril was born in France and currently resides in Canada. He both develops the Messenger Plus! software and manages the website and company that distribute the software.
In October 2006, Patchou was awarded the Microsoft MVP award in the Windows Live Developers group, sparking controversy that someone who includes adware in his programs was given this title.[4]
Within days of Patchou saying on his Blog that he had been awarded MVP status Microsoft announced that Patchou's MVP award had been revoked[5] and Patchou's MVP profile was removed from the official MVP site.
There was some confusion about Patchou's MVP status because of a statement that Microsoft apparently released which was quoted in several news articles. It is not known who at Microsoft issued the statement which said:
"Cyril Paciullo was awarded with MVP status this year on the basis of his technical expertise and strong community contribution. However, his active MVP Award status was revoked as soon as the extent of the connection between his application and spyware was made apparent to the MVP Program."
The words "active MVP status" led some to claim that Patchou is still an MVP but that he had simply been made inactive, or suspended. The MVP Program did not make a formal statement on the official MVP web site [6].
Internet Explorer and Security MVP Sandi Hardmeier, who has been watching Messenger Plus! for approximately four years[7], and has been an MVP since 1999, queried the MVP Program's management because of her understanding that there is no such thing as an inactive MVP or an MVP with suspended privileges. Sandi reported in one of her articles about Messenger Plus! that the MVP Program's management had advised her that Patchou is not an MVP.[8].